mdk

RPGC #5 -- FEAR

I just put mine in with a trigger warning. I need a shower.

RPGC #5 -- FEAR

Unfortunately, I just have been too busy with other things to write an entry. Maybe better luck next time (or Christmas Break ).

Edit: Wait, the deadline is October 4th, not October 1st?

@Dedonus

THERE IS STILL TIME

What would you rather fight?

Wendigo. Because skinwalkers are giant pussies.

I Honestly Did Not Need to Know That -- Useless Facts

Did you know that the current US $20 bill has a wrong eagle?

Eagles on currency and seals and that sort of thing are supposed to face to their right. This position (of looking to one's right, despite being seen from such a direction that they're looking to the viewer's left) is called looking 'Dexter,' which comes from the latin word meaning right. The alternative -- looking to one's left -- is called 'Sinister.' The large eagle watermark on the current US $20 bill is looking sinister, which is a national symbol faux pas by the treasury department, who could not be reached for comment.

Destiny PS4

<Snipped quote by The Darklight Project>

Ya I've been doing some of the older stuff and really enjoying it even if the loot drops that are worth it are few and far between! Everyone says the real good stuff is only in raids! So I'm really looking for a group to start doing those with.

@Darkmatter

It's also a good way to level up your subclasses. You don't NEED to do them all.... but I'd recommend it. Apparently they've updated the main storyline to be coherent, so I'm planning on doing it again eventually. Also, for the House of Wolves and Dark Below quests, you'll get some valuable faction reputation with a few different in-game vendors, which is worth your time in the end (you get lots of free goodies, and access to lots of nice-but-expensive purchasable goodies, for raising your reputation).

All in all, worth it, IMO. To really understand Taken King, you should at least do the Dark Below content first -- that's the instigating event for the whole new story.

Destiny PS4

Use the Bungie forums and either hop in to someone's LFG or make your own for raids and whatnot (though I think most things now have an automatic matchmaking system barring 6-man raids). I would volunteer to help you, but I lost interest before the Trials of Osiris came out (so, basically, right before the House of Wolves expansion) and I'm now hideously underleveled compared to the current light levels cap (40).

I can recommend a few people I know who still play that game religiously and are willing to run new players through raids for gear if you want.

@January

Light works differently now. If you jumped into Taken King, you'd be (I'm guessing?) level 32, and playing the story quests would bring you up to 40. Light is simpler now and makes more sense -- it's just the average value of all your gear. You can get up to 290 in about a week (or less if you go hard), and that's all you need to start raiding again. The new max light value is 310, but I don't think anyone's actually there yet.

who is ivanka trump?

I should clarify. "Realism" is a school of thought in global politics -- it's a confusing term, and here, I mean it in that context, not in the more obvious/douchy context.

Now then. I'm really not worried about China, at all. I am however concerned about several other states in the region -- Phillipine islamist terrorism, Burma, oh, and probably not a big deal or anything but nuclear goddamn Kim Jong Un. Can any of these things beat us? Lol. No. Not a chance in hell. But they can hurt our allies, or help our rivals (rivals, not enemies -- China would love to be a regional superpower, and we'd honestly rather not give them that much of a vote).

Now for the fun part -- the lessons we learned in Iraq. First things first -- we learned that credible threats of force work. Shortly after Bush invaded Iraq, Gaddafi disarmed his nuclear weapons and Kim Jong-Il did the same. Yeah, Kim opened the program up later, but he backed down the minute we started looking his way, because when Bush was president, we didn't make idle threats. Contrast that with Obama's 'line in the sand,' and the fallout -- which isn't done yet, btw -- which includes, for starters, ISIS, and almost certainly nuclear Iran.

The real lesson of Iraq is this -- no matter how much ^all that^ helps and/or hurts us respectively, the American public does not care. Not enough to do anything about it. We are too weak to maintain an effective foreign policy, and show no signs of getting any stronger. And since this is a government by the people for the people -- that's the only vote that counts in the end. And look -- when it comes to whether or not we should be starting or continuing unpopular wars, democracy FTW. That's only fair. But what you're talking about is dismantling the progress of hundreds of years of foreign policy that put us on top, and crippling our ability to get back to that later, while also destroying any credibility we have to our friends and, worse, to our enemies. So, no. I guess you could say I'm not a fan.

And on an academic note:

And what would be the purpose of our system of alliances if our allies need our presence to be effective

What you're describing here is known, in global politics, as Liberalism. Which again, just to be confusing, shares a name with something completely different in everyday use, but I don't make up the terms.

From Oscar to Raspberry - Humorous Movie Synopsis Thread

Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels: Basically a foreign language movie but without those pesky subtitles. I think it's about a car?

who is ivanka trump?

I'm a realist. Our power only exists if we can use it, and we can only use it if we have reliable staging areas. For instance, Rammstein AFB in Germany saved tens of thousands of soldiers' lives, as the primary channel for CasEvac from the Middle East. Without Rammstein, we lose every war we fight in SW Asia or Africa. That means we have no power over SW Asia or Africa. That means we have no bearing whatsoever on what happens there -- and call me crazy, but I kind of like having clout.

Take Japan. Are we OBLIGATED to defend them? Actually yes, by the terms of their surrender and numerous other treaties, we are obligated, but pretend we're not. What those bases give us, is the real right to exercise power in the Pacific theater. Nobody goes to war in Asia while we own the Pacific unless we say so. So what has that gotten us? $300 HDTVs, for one thing, and reliable shipping to the world's biggest trade hub in Singapore.

TLDR -- US bases overseas aren't a cost, they're an export. They're a large component in a global trading economy, which enables basically the entire economy to function.

RPGC #5 -- FEAR

I just send my entry in, I'm early this time \o/

I didn't bother with the riddles. To be honest I kinda forgot about that when I wrote my entry... Let's just say I was inspired and already knew exactly what I wanted to write.

@WiseDragonGirl

Hey, inspiration trumps everything. Nice! We've got two entries in so far.

For everyone's awareness -- we're gonna be mulling over some different options, based on feedback and participation on the riddle bonuses. We tried something new, and -- no sweat here -- kind of a miss. The important thing is, you told us WHY it's not as cool in practice as it was in concept -- absolutely invaluable, thanks. We're gonna think on our feet for this contest, and in the future, focus more on some of those points you all brought up. FOR THIS ONE THOUGH -- if the participation just isn't there, to get the habitual bounty of prizes, we'll come up with another way to reward good writing. If the riddles just aren't doing it for you, don't worry about them -- enter your best effort on the FEAR theme, and we'll do our best to dole out a fair number of prizes.